Fare-box



UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER HERDIO, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

FARE-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,530, dated June 8, 1880,

Application filed March 4, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, PETER HERDIC, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVilliamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fare-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fare-receptacles of the class having two chambers or apartments, the one to receive the fares deposited by passengers, and the other to secure the fares after being inspected by the driver or attendant in charge of the vehicle in which the fare-box is placed.

My object is to improve that type of the said class of fare-receptacles in which the fare-receiving chamber for the deposit of fares by passengers is provided with a movable bottom or partition which in its normal position separates the receiving-chamber from a lower or fare-securing chamber, the said partition being controlled by the driver or attendant, so that he may open communication between the two apartments for dumping the fares from the one into the other; and my improvements consist in certain combinations of devices to be hereinafter fully described, preparatory to specifically designating what is claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is afront elevation of a fare-box with my improvements; Fig. 2, a rear elevation; Fig. 3, a view, partly in elevation and partly in verti. cal section, 011 the lines 3 3 of the other figures; and Fig. 4., a similar view in the plane of the line 4 at of Fig. 3.

The case or box proper, A, is of any suitable and usual form, its interior forming two chambers, B B, the upper apartment, B, to receive the fares by Way of the inlet-opening O, and the lower or securing apartment, B, being provided with a suitable door, D, provided with a lock, d, for fastening it to prevent improper access to the box. I prefer to make that part of the box which forms the receiving-chamber of pressed glass, secured to the body or lower part by base flanges and screws, or in other suitable way. In the drawings the top and back and the front (excepting thepiece through which the opening G is made) of the receiving-chamber are of glass, the sides of the box throughout being of wood, with the back brace piece I) at top.

(No model.)

The dumping platform or partition E between the two chambers is polygonal in shape.

preferablyin the form of a triangle, as shown. It is mounted centrally upon a shaft or pivot, F, so as to rock or revolve about afixed center or in stationary bearings in the front and back of the box. The edges of the partition are chamfered, as shown, so as to work close to offsets or cleats ff at the sides of the box, and thus leave no opening between the two apartments when the partition is in its normal position, as represented in the drawings, and yet providing a sufficiently large space between the sides of the box and the partition, when the latter is rocked, to allow coins, tickets, 850., to pass freely down to the securing-chamber, as will presently be understood.

At the back of the box, (that part which comes next the driver of the car, chariot, 8m.) is provided a crank or series of crank-arms, G, projecting from a'disk or head, H, fixed on the shaft F outside the box. The partition is revolved or oscillated by means of the cranks.

To prevent accidental movement of the turning partition, the disk H is provided with radial studs or projections I, corresponding in number to the number of sides of the polygonal partition; Three studs, I, are shown by the drawings, and they respectively project in directions parallel with lines drawn radially from the axis of the partition to its corners or to the apexes of the triangle. These studs are slightly grooved at their ends to work against ayielding rod or spring-arm, J. The frictional contact between the studs and the spring-arm is sufficient to prevent the turning of the partition except by the application of positive force. The shank K of the spring-arm is secured near one edge of the back of the box, and a coiled spring, L, acts with a tendency to draw down the arm or bent part J of the rod upon the spurs of the turning shaft E. When in the position shown by the drawings two of the spurs are borne against by the spring.

From the above description it will readily be understood that when a fare has been deposited in the receiving chamber of the box and inspected, and the partition oscillated or turned one-third of a revolution, the fare is dumped into the lower or securing chamber, and another side of the partition is brought uppermost, and extends horizontally across the in side of the box, to arrest and hold the next fare dropped into the receiving-chamber.

Instead of the triangular partition, it is obvious that a quadrilateral or other polygonallyshaped partition might be used; but a triangular partition is best adapted for the purpose. The employment of the narrow side offsets or inwardly-projecting cleats f f, of slight vertical thickness, and located, as shown, above the axis of the partition, renders unnecessary any enlargement or bulge in the box-sides to provide an ample space for dumping the fares into the bottom of the box.

I do not broadly claim a fare-box having a dumping platform or partition between its receiving and securing chambers, nor the combination of a dumping -platform and every means for holding it against accidental movement.

I claim as of my own invention---- 1. The combination, as hereinbefore described, of the upper or receiving chamber, B, having the inlet-openin g G, the lower or securing chamber, 13, the side offsets, f f, the turning partition E, working between said chambers and resting at its upper corners in close contact with said offsets when adjusted to arrest a fare, the shaft of the partition working in stationary bearings and projecting from the back of the box, the crank of the shaft outside the box, and the spring, also outside the box, acting on the shaft to prevent accidental turning of the partition, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, in a two-chambered fare-box having the offsets f f between its receiving and securing chambers and the turning partition working at its upper corners close to said offsets, of the shaft supporting said partition in bearings in the box and projecting at one end through the box, the shaft crank or cranks outside the box, the projections on the shaft outside the box, the yielding rod for engaging and bearing on said projections, and the spring acting on said rod, all substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

' PETER HERDIO. Witnesses M. J. PEY'roN, L. B. WIGHT. 

